


Claws

by AOS100



Series: Growing up together [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra is a cat, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, kid adora, kid catra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:49:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24760342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AOS100/pseuds/AOS100
Summary: Catra must learn to sheathe her claws
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Pre catradora
Series: Growing up together [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790554
Kudos: 97





	Claws

For a rare moment in her life, Catra was being taught something truly essential by Shadow Weaver: how to retract her claws.

It had been about a year since she had been taken in by Shadow Weaver, and though the first incident she had with her claws was the reason she was disliked, Catra was never able to force herself to sheathe her claws.

She could extend them, and she had the first couple of weeks in the Fright Zone, wary of everything, especially when Adora wasn’t around.

Adora.

That was the main reason she was here. Her claws would occasionally scratch too deep, and Shadow Weaver had already threatened to declaw her. Their commanding officer hated whenever Adora got injured, or had so much as a blemish because she needed to be” top condition” at all times. However, Shadow Weaver also knew that the claws could be a very useful weapon, and Catra needed them because her “lack of hand to hand combat skill” made it so her claws were her “only hope at surviving” in the horde.

The five year old stood in front of Shadow Weaver, who gripped her wrists tightly and glared at her through the dark red mask she wore all the time.

“Close your eyes, Catra. Focus on your claws, imagine them disappearing, going back inside your fingertips.” 

Catra decided that Shadow Weaver was actually a good teacher when she wasn’t in imminent trouble or pain.

She did as she was told, and tried to make her claws go back inside her, but it wasn’t working. 

In a small voice so as to not annoy Shadow Weaver, she asked, “C-can you, um, let go a little bit. I-I need to relax,” she tensed, her ears flat against her head, ready for the pulsing pain that came with Shadow Weaver’s magic, but to her surprise, Catra’s wrists were free of the cold hands that were holding them.

Shadow Weaver had her hands to her sides now, and looked at Catra expectantly, “continue.”

Catra was put off for a moment, took a deep breath, letting her limbs loosen up. She closed her eyes, and wiggled her fingers a bit. Next thing she knew, Shadow Weaver had grabbed her hand and inspected her clawless fingertips. “Dismissed,” she ordered, “you no longer have any excuse to be scratching anyone, especially Adora.”

Catra immediately ran out of Shadow Weaver’s file office, and went to show Adora what she could do.

She skidded into the barracks, where Adora was waiting for her on their cot. Well, it was Adora’s cot but Catra slept at the end of it every night.

“Adora! Hey Adora,” Adora turned her head to see Catra running towards her, and a smile emerged on her face.

“Hey! Where’d you go?” 

Catra dismissed the question and showed her her palm, “Look! I won’t scratch you anymore!”

Adora looked at Catra’s fingers with curiosity. Where did her nails go? Did she cut them?

“Where did your nails go?”

Catra realized she was going to have to explain how this happened, because Adora simply didn’t know all the cat stuff she could do.

“They’re- They’re kinda like- inside my fingers? I dunno, but I still have them, they’re just not out. Ya know?” Catra wasn’t really sure where they went, just that they were gone.

Adora did in fact, not know, but the way that Catra explained, she thought it would hurt to have her nails inside of her fingers, “Do they hurt?” she asked.

“Uh- not really, they’re just- they feel kinda weird.” Catra was actually getting a bit uncomfortable with her claws being sheathed for so long, especially because it was her first time doing it, but she would get used to it, for Adora.

“You don’t have to do that with me, you can be comfy,” Adora had such a genuine smile on her face, that Catra felt really accepted for her cat features in that moment. There weren't others like her in the horde. Not like Rogelio, who looked a lot like many other cadets she had seen around, with this green and scaly skin, and the fact that they spoke in growls mainly. She was constantly being bullied for her ears, her tail, and sometimes even just her fur. The couldn't help how she looked, but found herself wanting to look more like Adora, Lonnie, even Rogelio sometimes. The problem was more with Shadow Weaver though, who would tell her how her tail got in the way during training, or her ears were far to big and would tell her to flatten them on her head. Adora loved both her tail and ears, and would play with them even, so Catra would brush off the little things. 

She slowly let her claws out again, not fully extended but to their normal size. Adora smiled and grabbed her hand, not worrying about any scratches she might get.

“C’mon, let’s go play in section 4 and see if we can find that little bat baby again!”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days later, Adora had slightly less scratches on her arms, not because Catra was sheathing her claws, but because she decided to be more careful.

Shadow Weaver didn’t notice that Catra wasn’t doing what she had told her.

**Author's Note:**

> This work has a small part in which Catra is bullied for the way she looks. She has a disadvantage in the world of the Horde and to Shadow Weaver. Unfortunately, things similar to this happen on a much worse and larger scale in real life. Let's support the BLM movement, in any way we can, whether you go to protests, or simply sign petitions, anything helps. Please don't ignore the racism and injustice that happens in our society.


End file.
